Page 97 of The Devil's Ransom

“I don’t know where that is. That’s something you found.”

In Pashto, Shakor turned to Ghulam and said, “Go find it. You know it’s on the water, just outside the walls. Be waiting on my call.”

Ghulam nodded and set out trying to find the location. Bogdan said, “Why are you sending them there? I don’t get it. The credit card was used at the upper bar, Caffe Buza.”

Before leaving the house, Shakor had used the Wi-Fi to research the location of the Caffe Bar Buza and was concerned by what he’d found. Like Bogdan said, it was just below the top of the city walls, built into the cliffs overlooking the Adriatic Sea. It had a single entrance, a small portal in the stone of the wall, leading to layers of decks on the cliffs outside. In other words, it was a complete dead end.

Shakor had chased Branko enough to have some grudging respect for his ability to escape, and it was always predicated on never stopping in a place without a back door. There was no way he would put himself in a position like the cliff bar. Everything he had shown up until this point was that security came first. No cars allowed near his houses, secret drops out of castles, World War IItunnels, pedestrian gates to a coastal walkway, terrace balconies within reach of the ground—there was always a backdoor escape.

And that was Shakor’s concern, as this place was the absolute opposite of having an escape route. Branko was trapped there as surely as if he’d entered a limestone cave, and he would know that, so why choose to go there?

One picture on the website gallery gave Shakor a clue. Below the decks he could see a rope line in the water making a square about seventy meters wide and connected to the rocks below.

Shakor ignored Bogdan’s question and said, “Just take me to the upper bar.”

Bogdan led him up the wide staircase, then right down an alley, then up another flight of stairs, this one much narrower, almost like a tunnel. They passed art galleries, houses, and cafés, the process repeating itself until they were on an alley running right next to the city wall itself. Shakor kept his eyes open, scanning the tourists coming and going in case Branko popped out of the crowds. It had been close to an hour since the credit card had been used, and Branko might have decided to leave.

He didn’t appear, and Bogdan finally stopped outside a small square in the wall, just over five feet in height and looking like a portal for a cannon, which it well may have been eons ago. Beyond it was a stone stairwell leading down. He said, “This is it. What do we do now?”

“We go in. You lead.”

They waited for a couple to exit, the man saying, “Great view, but it’s a little crowded.”

Shakor nodded and said, “Any seats at all?”

“At the upper level. Nothing on the lower. But you’ll want to go down there anyway to check out the idiots jumping.”

And Shakor knew his instincts were right.

Bogdan went through the portal and then began down the stairs. Shakor followed, seeing the bar spilling out below him, tables crammed on multiple levels down the cliff. Bogdan stopped on the upper level, the actual bar area covered with thatching of bamboo to ward off the sun, a few tables scattered about in front. Shakor surveyed the area and saw no sign of Branko. Bogdan pointed at an empty table and Shakor shook his head, saying, “Go lower.”

Bogdan did, Shakor right behind him, the rough concrete steps winding back and forth. They made a final turn to the deck, and then Shakor saw Branko on the other end, next to a second stairwell leading to another level. He yanked Bogdan’s shirt, getting him to stop, then looked around for a way to approach so Branko wouldn’t see them. Shakor wanted to surprise him before he had a chance to run, but there wasn’t a way to get to him without simply walking through all the other tables with tourists.

Shakor thought about sending Bogdan, using him to lull Branko with a story of escape or something else, but knew Bogdan wouldn’t comply. He looked back at Branko as he debated, and they locked eyes.

Branko sprang up, knocking over his chair, then leapt to the stairwell. He began skipping down the steps and Shakor gave chase, the crowds at the table looking up as he went past. He reached the second set of stairs, turned around, and saw Bogdan running back to the top. Shakor ignored him, focusing on Branko.

He started down and saw Branko jump the railing to the rocks adjacent to the stairs, then begin scuttling across them. Shakor stopped at the railing, knowing what was going to happen.

Branko looked back at him, then ran forward, leaping off therock face, windmilling his arms from forty feet above the water. He dropped straight down, hitting the water with a splash and causing the tourists on the deck to stand up to see, some cheering, but all of them chattering. Branko surfaced, looked back to Shakor, then raised his middle finger before stroking toward the rope line meant to delineate the end of the swimming area. He crossed it and kept going, paralleling the city walls on the shore.

Shakor only smiled in return. When he’d seen the rope line in the bar’s galley pictures, he’d realized there was a swimming area below, but couldn’t see any way to get there short of jumping. Then he’d seen a single picture of a man doing just that, and thought he’d found Branko’s back door. Now, standing on the railing, he could see a ladder bolted into the stone forty feet below him, then a narrow set of stairs leading back to the rock shelf, but that would have been much too slow for Branko to use.

All in all, it was smart, because there was no way to get down to the bottom level of the city before Branko was out of the water and running, and no way any of his men could follow him into the water wearing boots and strapped with weapons—even if they had the nerve to do so. But like any strategy built on surprise, once the secret was known, the plan was worthless. In fact, worse than worthless, because the plan itself could be used against the planner.

Shakor had researched the rocky shore away from the cliff bar, searching for an exit point Branko could use to get back into the city, and had found another bar, this one at sea level, with another rope-lined swimming area. It was the bar where he’d sent Ghulam.

Shakor pulled out his phone and called Ghulam, saying, “He’s coming to you. Don’t let him see you. Let him get out and back inside the walls before you pounce.”

Chapter56

Inside the Situation Room, Wolffe texted Blaine Alexander one final time, saying,Okay, delay the termination order to Pikeas long aspossible. Let’s see what he can come up with,then put his phone away when President Hannister said, “Okay, options. What are our options?”

Amanda Croft, the secretary of state, said, “We can take this evidence to the Swiss. Bypass the Security Council and go straight to Iran. Tell the Iranians we know it’s them, they’ve made their point, but if it comes to fruition, there are going to be repercussions.”

Kerry Bostwick said, “All that will do is engender a bunch of ‘we didn’t do this—the Great Satan is looking for ways to attack us.’ They’re going to say they have no idea what this is about, and we’re trying to start a fight. You do that, and they’ll be the ones to leak it to the press in a preemptive bid to show, A, we suck at space exploration, and B, we’re picking on them. That won’t work.”

Croft said, “So do nothing? I mean, what else is there?”

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